Trip Day 6--Elephant Camp

Thursday, November 7 we were up and eating McDonald's across the street for breakfast.  We had a van pick-up at 830 a.m.  One thing that you "have" to do in this area of the world is to ride an elephant.  So, I booked a day at Baan Chang Elephant Camp (just the right combination of education and fun for us).

We learned how to be an elephant trainer by learning commands and how to take care of the animals.  Elephants like whole bunches of bananas and sugar canes.
Nanlong=sit
Whey=turn (while kicking with the opposite foot)
Pie=go
How=stop

Once we did all of that, we took the elephants out on a walk through the jungle and mountainside:

One of the most fun parts, giving the elephants a bath at the end:

A few conversations revolved around "poop."  The elephant in front of Allison and Madison did this during the walk.  Oh to have a video camera of that reaction...  And a couple elephants did this in the lake.  To have a video camera prepped for that as well...

We were also fed lunch of cabbage soup, fried chicken drumsticks, chicken and vegetables, and pineapple.

Good items to bring:  underwear, shampoo, bug spray, and sunscreen.  They provided:  soap, water (for drinking), work clothes, and towels.  We took our shoes off before bathing the elephants.

That afternoon, Sarah went and got an hour long Thai massage (for probably $8 USD?) and went shopping for some decorative wood houses and temples while the kids went to the pool with Jeremy.  We had dinner across the street at Duke's.